India vs England Match Preview- India tour of England 2022, 1st T20I

India vs England Match Preview- India tour of England 2022, 1st T20I. India and England will face each other in the 1st T20I on 7th July 2022 at 10:30 pm IST in The Rose Bowl, Southampton. England has lost only one T20I series on their home soil after 2017 and it is against India in 2018. India has a 19-5 win-loss record in the T20Is played after 2021. India and England have an 8-8 win-loss record in bilateral T20I matches.

England won the rescheduled 5th Test match by 7 wickets and went on to level the series 2-2. Now, both teams will move to the T20I format, and the Test result will have very little bearing on this match as no player in the Test squad from either side is set to play this match.

Both teams are out there to test their bench strength and find the right balance in their squad ahead of the 2022 T20I World Cup later this year. India has been dominating the T20I circuit off late and England’s only nemesis in T20Is has been India on their home ground.

India vs England Match Preview- India tour of England 2022, 1st T20I

Jos Buttler is all set to take the full-time captaincy for the England side from this series. He will partner with Jason Roy at the top. Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, and Moeen Ali will slot in as the middle-order batters on the team. Sam Curran, David Willey, and Harry Brook will fight out for the lower order batter’s position. Phil Salt is another wicket-keeping option.

Chris Jordan, Reece Topley, Sam Curran, and David Willey are expected to make the four-man pace attack for the team with Tymal Mills in the reserve in the squad. Matthew Parkinson will partner Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone for the spin bowling department for the team.

Rohit Sharma returns to the T20I squad after losing out on playing the Test match for being Covid-19 positive and is expected to partner alongside Ishan Kishan at the top. Deepak Hooda will keep his place at No.3 after his outstanding performances against Ireland with Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, and Hardik Pandya set to follow him. Sanju Samson might get a nod ahead of Ishan Kishan if India plans to test him as this is his only T20I match.

Deepak Hooda became the fourth centurion for India in the T20I format, after his breathtaking 104 off 57 balls against Ireland in the 2nd T20I between the two sides at Malahide on Tuesday, 28 June. Deepak Hooda scored 151 runs in two T20I matches against Ireland and was also awarded The Player of the Series.

Pacers Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are expected to slot in as the first choice playing XI in this match. Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh might get a chance if India plans to experiment with their line-up. Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi will fight for the leggie’s role in the team with the former having an upper hand. Axar Patel might come in as a spin-bowling all-rounder.

For the first T20I match, senior players Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja were not included as they were playing the rescheduled 5th Test match against England.  As the senior players were rested for the opening T20I, the likes of Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, and Venkatesh Iyer will be available for only the first T20I match.

India Predicted XI:- Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal.

England Predicted XI:- Jos Buttler (C, WK), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Chris Jordan, Reece Topley, Sam Curran, David Willey, Matthew Parkinson.